The health sector has registered tremendous progress, according to the 2010 Demographic Health Survey Report (DHS) released yesterday. Speaking to the media, the Minister of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, noted that the country was on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2020.She, however, lamented that there were still a few challenges that should be tackled, citing big percentage of women who do not use family planning methods, coupled with other inadequacies.Some of the key areas that registered significant progress include the Malaria and HIV prevalence reports, vaccination coverage – which is presently at 90 percent – as well as the number of women delivering from health facilities.The Coordinator of Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Fidel Ngabo, noted that the number of women delivering from health facilities rose from 39 percent in 2005 to 67 percent in 2010. He further noted that 45 percent of women now use contraceptives while 35 percent go for antenatal visits compared to only 13 percent back in 2005.He attributed this to the monumental role played by Community Health Workers, Performance Based Financing, improved health facilities and incentives offered to traditional birth attendants who encourage women to give birth from health facilities, among other strategies.The Head of the National Reference Laboratory at RBS, Dr. Odette Mukabayire, said the report was impressive adding that it shows a lot of promise to even do better.“The health sector has indeed done a great job over the years. That is why you see people coming to learn from us, such as the Tuberculosis Centre of Excellence that attracts people from the region to learn how Rwanda handles multi-drug resistant tuberculosis,” Mukabayire stated.She divulged that the East African countries are in the process of building laboratory network with Rwanda taking the lead in ICT.
